George Russell ‘overtrying’ theory emerges as Damon Hill casts Mercedes prediction

George Russell, Mercedes

Damon Hill, the 1996 World Champion, believes George Russell will stop “overtrying” when Mercedes re-emerge as a regular fixture at the front of the F1 2024 field.

Russell came in for criticism after an error-ridden performance at last weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix, where he could only manage third in changeable conditions after claiming his second F1 pole position.

George Russell ‘overtrying’ in search for Mercedes F1 success?

Despite securing Mercedes‘ first podium finish of the F1 2024 season, Russell cut a downbeat figure after the race as he admitted he felt he had “let the team down a bit” with his errors on track.

Russell’s arrival at Mercedes coincided with the team’s fall from grace in the first year of F1’s ground-effect rules in 2022, with the Silver Arrows restricted to just a single win over the last two-and-a-half years after a record run of eight consecutive Constructors’ titles from 2014.

Appearing on the Sky F1 podcast, Hill has expressed sympathy for Russell for joining Mercedes at a bad time, having made a great first impression with the team while standing in for an unwell Lewis Hamilton at the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix.

George Russell’s Canadian Grand Prix performance analysed

👉 Canadian GP conclusions: Villeneuve v Ricciardo and Russell’s new nickname

👉 Canadian GP driver ratings: Record low score for Sergio Perez horror show

Hill said: “We sit here we’re talking about him and it’s almost like a competition to do a self portrait-with this game, because you’ve got the people who are talking about it and creating an impression and trying to describe the driver and his strengths and weaknesses.

“And then there’s a driver, who has what he says out of the car and the way he behaves and how professional they are – that’s that’s another side – but then when it comes down to it, what they do on the track is the ultimate deciding factor.

“That’s the thing I like about Formula 1. They say: ‘When the flag drops, the BS stops.’

“We can talk all day about people and whether they’ve got the right this, that or the other, but once it comes down to what happens on the track then we find the truth about a person.

“Don’t forget [Russell] was the Ollie Bearman of his [generation] a few years ago when he got his break in the Mercedes when he subbed for Lewis. He had a fantastic debut, everyone was going crazy over his performance.

“Unfortunately for them, Mercedes dropped the ball in effect with the new regulation changes and he’s been having to slug it out in a difficult car.

“But very rarely has he been massively overshadowed by Lewis – and now he seems to have got the upper hand.

“It may be because he’s the guy staying and Lewis is off [to Ferrari].

“Some very interesting comments, I thought, from Lewis saying he wasn’t very happy with his performance over the weekend, so he’s admitting at least that he’s not putting in his best for whatever reason.

“But George can do it.

“They’ve only just resurfaced and got to the front of the pack and maybe it was all a bit desperate. It was got a little bit of: ‘I’ve got pole position, I want to win this race more than anything.’

“Maybe he’s overtrying a bit and if Mercedes get bit more performance and start to qualify regularly on the front row, then it will start coming to him a bit.”

Russell emerged as a future F1 star with success in the junior categories, famously beating McLaren driver Lando Norris to the F2 title in 2018.

With Norris and Ferrari star Charles Leclerc winning in Miami and Monaco respectively over recent weeks, Hill’s fellow pundit Naomi Schiff fears Russell has been “overshadowed” by his peers after starting his career with three years at Williams.

And she claimed Russell would be perceived very differently if he joined Mercedes at their title-winning peak.

She added: “It’s slightly unfortunate for George because he did win in F2 and beat most of those drivers.

“It was a long time ago, but unfortunately he didn’t get the drive with a team that was going to give him the opportunity to shine immediately, so he spent many years at Williams overshadowed.

“While there were always whispers of his talent, it’s only now that he’s come to Mercedes that he’s got any chance of really proving against those other guys what he’s worth and the car just isn’t giving him that opportunity either.

“So had he had a car that was competitive, and had multiple podiums and multiple victories, he’d be seen completely differently right now.”